This article is another installment of our Questionable Quotes (?Q) series, where we aim to take popular, commonly used quotes about the church, God, and the Bible and put them under the microscope to see if they really hold up to the truth.
“I don’t think God wants us to focus on (insert controversial doctrine).
This questionable quote is one that seems to rear its ugly head every time there’s a debate over doctrine. Bring up baptism, unauthorized forms of worship, women’s roles, or any number of other doctrinal matters and eventually some person aiming to give sage advice will remark about how God doesn’t really care about these issues like we do.
I’m sure you’ve heard the sermons or seen the articles from those who believe Christians need to avoid discussing those matters that aren’t “salvation issues.” A Facebook friend of mine recently posted one such article, and it had all of the trademark signs of those who use this questionable quote, such as: the idea that we care a lot more about these things than God does, the point that it’s hateful and judgmental to take a stand on those doctrines, the usual platitudes about how all we have been called to do is love God and love people (which are a convenient way of dodging all biblical discussion), and that if we are loving and free of pride as we should be we won’t care to stand for such doctrines.
The problem with every single person who uses the “I don’t think God wants us to focus on that issue” is right there in the quote. We don’t have to “think,” we can know. God told us we can (2 Timothy 3:16-17). When we reduce doctrines like baptism or the worship of the church to what man thinks God may or may not care about, we ignore the fact that He has laid out exactly what He wants from us in His Word. (Of course, a person can do this with just about every single topic the Bible covers. These are simply the most common examples.)
Additionally, as soon as we depart from God’s divine instructions, we place the truth about what matters or doesn’t matter at man’s discretion, creating a sliding scale of truth. To paint a picture of what I mean, consider the following example.
One man says all you have to do is say you believe in Jesus, and that’s all God cares about. “I don’t think God would want us to focus on the details of salvation, proper worship, or the roles He has given us – we’ve already been saved by faith!”
The next man demands that baptism is a part of salvation but doesn’t think that God cares if women lead worship or if we worship with music. “It’s judgmental to get caught up in these issues,” he says, blind to the fact that he’s judging the first man.
Still a third man agrees that baptism is necessary, but he believes that God has called men to lead in worship. Instruments are acceptable in his book, though. “Is God really going to care about that kind of thing? That’s not very loving,” he remarks. Despite the fact that he prides himself on not being unloving, he forgets that his beliefs naturally judge men #1 and #2.
So the example could go on ad infinitum, but you get the point. They decide what a salvation issue is, and anyone who goes beyond that point is unloving and judgmental. In their call for “balance” by not emphasizing what they don’t think is important, they paint themselves as tolerant, loving people while forgetting that they judge someone, somewhere, including the very people whose doctrines they attempt to undermine. What these folks forget is that it is not loving to aid someone in remaining ignorant to God’s will. It’s not loving towards your fellow man, and it’s especially not loving toward the God who provided us His spoken word so we could know exactly how to serve Him as He pleases. And, just as it’s not loving to ignore God, it’s not judgmental to teach and act on what He has told us to do. It is nothing more than humble obedience to a God who deserves it. When a person says that something doesn’t matter because he “doesn’t think God would want us to care about that,” he sets himself up as a higher standard than God’s holy Scriptures. 
What’s loving is to teach people the truth as God has given it, whether they want to accept it or not. God didn’t give us the Bible so we could pick and choose what doesn’t matter and talk down to people who want to apply it any more than we do. Through the course of your Christian life you are going to find plenty of people to your “left” and plenty to your “right” in areas of doctrine. What matters is not your opinion or theirs, but what the Bible says. While there is room for disagreement and varying interpretations in the Bible, He hasn’t left us in the dark on any of the issues that “progressives” want to ignore.
“I don’t think God wants us to focus on _____” or whatever similar form that quote takes has become the trademark of those who don’t want to examine and apply God’s instruction, and we must be incredibly wary of those who use that phrase to manipulate doctrinal discussions. Any time a preacher, writer, or anyone else tells you “I don’t think God wants us to focus on that,” remember to ask one simple question: Has God spoken about it? If He has, He wants us to focus on it.
By Jack Wilkie